Chechnya: Danish Refugee Council Reopens
In early February Ramzan Kadyrov, then acting prime minister of the Chechen Republic and the main Kremlin strongman in the region said Danish groups would no longer be allowed in Chechnya.
Kadyrov, in televised comments late on February 6, said Danish groups will no longer be let into Chechnya because Denmark, where the cartoons were initially printed, has offended Muslims’ religious beliefs.
“They are playing with the feelings of 1.5 billion people,” Kadyrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. “This is the most sensitive spot for Muslims in the world. I think the whole world and its leaders should express their opinion about this so it will not happen again. It is frightening even to speak about it. They should answer and apologize to the whole world.”
The Refugee Council suspended its operations after this announcement but voiced protest and said that it expected the Russian government to make an official announcement on the humanitarian organization’s further work in the republic.
The comments came soon from Chechen President Alu Alkhanov who said that the council’s operations were not officially banned as therefore may run as before.
